Relatives outside the centre told the ABC they were worried the 'kids would be too scared to surrender to the [Territory Response Group] bearing assault rifles'.

Relatives of some of the young people rushed to #DonDale last night when they heard via social media that it was on fire. Sammy Wright (right) told @Shahni_W last night that kids would be too scared to surrender to the TRG unit bearing assault rifles. pic.twitter.com/tGmh9HznlG

One staff member is believed to have received an injury to their hand.

NT Police have declined to respond to questions, referring NITV News to Territory Families which has overseen the youth detention centre since taking over from Correctional Services in 2016.

Speaking to the media on Wednesday morning, a spokesperson for Territory Families said the centre is "still a retired broken adult prison".

"Territory Families has inherited a retired adult prison which was retired a number of years ago. We have been trying to make do with what we have got," the spokesperson said.

NT Police defended its use of tear gas, despite the royal commission's recommendation that tear gas should be prohibited in youth detention centres.

"The circumstances were that, we will allege, a number of juveniles - youth detainees - had breached an inner perimeter fence. They had then made their way to an outer perimeter fence. They had tools which they were attempting to breach the fence with in what we will allege is an attempt to escape."

The NT Deputy Opposition Leader, Lia Finocchiaro, has called on the Minister for Territory Families Dale Wakefield to resign.

Senior lawyer with the Human Rights Law Centre Shahleena Musk said the teenagers "should not holed up in a police cell".

"These children have been through a lot – they have been locked in isolation, tear gassed, and denied their basic rights. Forcing them to move from one unsafe facility to another is not the answer," she said in a statement.

Earlier this year, the NT government accepted calls to close the centre after a royal commission uncovered disturbing evidence of abuse.

The final report of the $54 million inquiry released last November made 227 recommendations, all of which the government said it would adopt.

NT government denies Don Dale shower surveillance of girls

Allegations in the NT Parliament that female youth are watched while showering following reports from a 'concerned member of the community'.

Footage of teenagers being tear-gassed, spit-hooded and shackled to restraint chairs in youth prisons sparked the probe and prompted Labor to inject millions of dollars to overhaul the broken system.

The centre received national attention in 2016 when the ABC aired footage of the abuse of youths, including Aboriginal teen Dylan Voller in a restraint chair wearing a spit hood, prompting the royal commission into juvenile detention in the NT.

Stop detaining kids under 14 and close Don Dale, former royal commissioner says

Margaret White calls for all states and territories to raise the age of criminal responsibility to at least 12.

Don Dale has continued to be the subject of negative publicity this year, with four boys accused of starting fires at the centre in July and injuries to prison guards in May.

The NT government has committed $70 million for two new detention centres in Darwin and Alice Springs as part of $229.6 million to be spent over the next five years to overhaul the child protection and youth justice systems, and implement the recommendations of the royal commission.

AAP with NITV Staff Writer

Close Don Dale: NT juvenile justice inquiry final report delivered

The juvenile justice royal commission's final report will hand federal and NT governments a blueprint to close a dark chapter inside Australia's youth prisons.